Leaf, Erin M. - Tango Trio [Dream Marked 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (11 page)

Tessa, oh, just like that, it’ll drive him crazy
, Jared coaxed in her mind as she scrubbed her tongue against the circumcision scar on Parker’s cock. She smiled around him then pulled off, looking at Jared. He had his pants undone, and he clutched tightly at the base of his dick, trying to stave off orgasm. Her mouth watered, and trusting her instincts, she leaned down further and slipped the tip of Jared into her mouth. He shivered and then groaned, long and low.
This is a great idea
, she thought, cataloguing the flavors of two men on her tongue. When she pulled back, she saw Parker watching her blow Jared, his eyes hot.

“God, don’t stop, Tessa,” Parker croaked, so Tessa leaned down again, taking Jared back inside her mouth. He smelled like dew and wet blossoms. She savored his musk as Jared closed his eyes and leaned into Parker’s thigh. Tessa knew the exact moment he bent down and took Parker into his mouth because the mental connection between the three of them suddenly buzzed white-hot, as if the metallic sheen of their auras had crashed together and flared into an explosion. She sucked harder, feeling Jared do the same in the back of her head, and then everything went sparkly as her orgasm burst through her body in a cascade of scents and sounds. She cried out when she smelled pine trees and something sweet, like honey, then her body relaxed, and her head lolled against Jared’s stomach. She opened her eyes, completely sated. Jared’s cock twitched near her lips, still half hard. Tessa swallowed, the aftertaste of something spicy inundating her taste buds.

Jesus
, Parker thought, the mind link resonating with the aftereffects of their shared orgasm.
If the sex is always like this, I’m going to enjoy being bonded.

Me, too,
Tessa agreed, and then a curious thought popped into her head.
Weren’t you the least bit freaked out by Jared going down on you?
she asked him, mind-to-mind.

Parker shook his head and cleared his throat. “It was more like I was shocked at myself for not being at all shocked.”

Jared stroked his hands over Parker’s legs, eventually trailing up his stomach to his cheeks. “I’m glad.”

Parker smiled down at him and Tessa, and then his stomach growled, and his smile turned sheepish. “Um, anyone else hungry?”

Tessa laughed and got to her feet, straightening her clothes. “I’m starving, actually.”

“Why don’t we go to The Farmhouse for dinner?” Jared stood, tucking his cock in his pants and zipping up. Tessa watched his actions regretfully.

“Sure,” Parker said, putting his clothes back together, too. Tessa ran her hands through her hair, hoping she looked presentable.

You look gorgeous, darling
, Parker thought to her, making her smile.

Yeah, I like the just-been-sexed look on you, Tessa
, Jared sent, then dodged as Tessa aimed a smack in his direction.

I’ll get you for that
, she promised, tickling his waist.

Hey, careful with the goods, sweetheart. I can’t afford to have my perfect body damaged.

Tessa chased him from the room, laughing.

Chapter 8

Parker looked around the restaurant, a sense of unreality suffusing his mind. He was here with his two bond-mates, one of whom was Tessa.
Tessa
. The woman he’d had a crush on since he was a teenager. After his brother and her husband passed away, to his amazement, he slowly became her best friend. His boyhood crush deepened into an abiding love, but he never expected to have a chance with her. Then, to find out that he was destined to bond with not just her, but also Jared? Sexy, ex-military, hot dancer Jared? Totally surreal. He never expected to bond with anyone, let alone another guy, but Jared was gorgeous both inside and out. Parker could feel the solid core of integrity the man carried around with him, and it truly appealed to his own sense of honor. That made it a little easier for him to accept that he was attracted to another man. At least Jared was top-of-the-line hot. And the sex was insane.
Yup, I’m a lucky, lucky man
, he thought as he sipped his beer and watched Tessa joke around with Jared, both of them comfortable and happy. After their latest shared orgasm, Parker was so relaxed he was almost comatose, so no one could blame him for being totally shocked when the masked ‘Path addicts stormed the restaurant. He blinked in confusion as they filed in. Where the hell had his sense of smell gone? Then his brain woke up, and he gasped as Jared barked out a
holy shit!
, grabbing Tessa and diving for the floor.

“Parker! Get down!” Jared poked him. Tessa squeaked and dropped the piece of bread she’d been holding as they hit the floor.

Parker was already moving as his new reflexes assessed the situation. Whackos breaking into a quiet country restaurant.
Check
. Tessa is protected.
Check
. Get your ass on the floor.
Check
. Parker crouched next to his bond-mates, senses opening automatically in a way he’d never before experienced. He counted the number of attackers. Three men, two women. Noted their position relative to the emergency exits. Four covered the escape routes, one stairway to the second level exposed. Somehow he was able to scent their physical and psychic condition. Four of them mostly healthy but definitely addicted to something, probably ‘Path. One, the taller woman, inordinately strong mentally. All of them had smoky gray auras that flickered and swirled around them nauseatingly. Parker swallowed hard. They smelled like ash. It was enough to make him lose the excellent lasagna he’d just eaten.

He glanced at Jared, who’d let go of Tessa. The other man was on one knee, crowding Tessa back along the wall into the most protected position. Parker knew she was a sensible woman, so he wasn’t particularly worried that she’d do something stupid like scream or faint. He looked over the restaurant again. Most of the diners were freaked out, a few women shrieking. Some of the men, too, he noticed with disgust. Tessa, bless her, had plastered herself to the wall, hands free, eyes alert. The attackers were waving what looked like paintball guns around.
Paintball guns?

Parker, shit. Shit! I think that’s my mother!
Tessa sent suddenly, her mind voice shrill with dismay.

What? How can you tell?
he asked.

“I can smell her,” Tessa whispered. Parker doubted anyone but he or Jared could’ve heard her, but she reverted back to mental speech with her next thought.
Under all that sooty, disgusting miasma, it’s my mother. She’s a ‘Path addict.

Parker felt Jared think
clusterfuck
and had to agree with the other man.
You’re sure? They’re wearing masks. We can’t even see their eyes
, Parker sent as he glanced at the dark-clad attackers. They weren’t speaking, just waving their weird pistols around menacingly. It was creepy. They were clad from head to toe in black. Even their faces were completely covered, with dark mesh rectangles over their mouths and eyes. Their features were totally obscured. The only parts of their bodies uncovered were their hands. If he hadn’t had a superior sense of smell from the bonding, he’d have no idea if they were male or female, healthy or weak. The other restaurant customers and wait staff cowered on the floor, some weeping.
At least the shrieking stopped
, Parker thought absently.

I’m positive it’s my mother
, Tessa sent.
She’s the one in the middle. The one in charge
.

Parker didn’t ask how she knew her mother was in charge. It was obvious. The tall woman in the center of this mess was clearly directing the others, who had by now begun searching the diners.
How is she telling them what to do?

She’s a ‘Path addict. She’s using telepathy to tell her thugs what to do
, Tessa sent.

What are they looking for?
Jared asked, sending to Jared and Tessa for the first time since they hit the floor.

Parker frowned, wondering the same thing. The attackers were grabbing the diners one-by-one, hauling them up and cupping their faces. When they let go, the diners crumpled to the floor. He felt Tessa sniffing and followed her lead. The attackers still smelled foul—ashy and rotting—like someone had let a corpse rot and then burned it. He stifled a gag. Revolting.
Is this what zombies would smell like?
he wondered, when suddenly a wave of revulsion pulsed from Tessa. He swiveled around to look at her and was shocked to find her pale and shaking.
Tessa?

They’re using their powers to locate pre-bonded candidates. People who are going to bond but haven’t yet
, she sent back.

How the hell can you tell that? All I smell from them is death
, Jared sent.

I can follow the smell of their auras as they use their bastardized telepathy. It invades the other person and hijacks them somehow. It’s horrible. Like mind-rape. And I can tell they’re looking for something, but I can’t explain how I know that
, Tessa sent back.
And my mother is in charge! Why is she even here? I didn’t know she was a ‘Path addict!

Parker sensed Jared run a hand along Tessa’s arm.
Does your mom know you’re here?

She knows I live in this area. I don’t think she’s sensed me here in the restaurant yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Shit. I knew my mom was awful, and a terrible mother, but I didn’t think she was actually evil.

Parker grimaced.
I knew she was evil, but I didn’t know she was crazy. She
is
a chemist
, he speculated, hating to bring it up.
She probably has something to do with manufacturing that ‘Path shit if she’s an addict
. He felt Tessa grimace in the back of his mind, but she didn’t protest his point. Tessa and her mom had never gotten along very well. Cynthia Brown was a difficult, controlling woman all her life. When the woman was fired from her prestigious position as a pharmaceutical chemist, she grew even worse, telling people she quit rather than admit she was fired. Parker knew Tessa’d moved out of her mother’s house as soon as she could, even going to college a year early in order to get away from her. Their relationship remained strained. Then, last year, Cynthia Brown disappeared, much to Tessa’s guilty relief. Despite the discomfort of the dreams and the pre-bonding headaches, it had been a good year. Tessa’s mom hadn’t tried to call or visit even once the whole time.
She disappeared right after that business with Duncan Green
, he remembered. There must be a connection.

Yeah
, Tessa sent to him.
You’re probably right.

Parker sighed and continued to scan the restaurant, somewhat amazed that he and his bond-mates could hold so still, but also grateful that their bonding seemed to have given them a few useful physical perks. He thought bonding was all about the mental side of things, but obviously he’d been wrong. He glanced around again, vaguely creeped out by the attackers’ silence. They still hadn’t spoken a word to the diners. How were they controlling the crowd?

I think your mother is controlling the people in the restaurant with her mind as well as sending commands to her minions
, Jared mused. Parker felt a stab of horror from Tessa, quickly squashed. Parker felt just as sickened as she did, but there was no time for an emotional breakdown.

Then why the weird guns?
Tessa asked.
If they can control people with their minds, why bother with a weapon?

Backup?
Jared thought.
Maybe they know they can’t control everyone.

Yeah, I think you’re right,
Parker sent to Jared as he observed the thugs’ methodological search of the other diners. Another woman crumpled to the floor.
Obviously they can’t control us or we’d be frozen, too
. He moved his arm experimentally.
Nope, not frozen.

Probably because of the bond
, Jared thought.
We should pretend we’re controlled until we figure out what to do. We can’t let them drain us. We can’t let them even touch us.

Parker sent his agreement, trying to shift position in a way that wouldn’t call attention to the three of them. His fingers ached. What the hell? He tried to ignore the discomfort. He sensed the deep pain in Jared’s hip from his old injury. Crouching like this was difficult for the dancer. Bitching over sore fingers was absurd in the face of that kind of hurt. He concentrated on watching every movement the addicts made. After another person fell down, senseless, he had to ask the obvious question.
Are they killing the people?

No
, Jared sent, his mind voice angry.
They’re draining their energy. Sniff the people who’ve collapsed. They smell weak, exhausted.

Parker and Tessa both did as Jared advised. Parker winced, wishing he could spit. He hadn’t even realized that he could gather that much information about someone just by scenting them, but with the bond, his sense of smell was acute. He must have been cataloguing the other diners instinctively before Tessa’s mom showed up because he could clearly tell the difference between those who’d been sucked dry of energy and those who were still waiting. If he concentrated, he could even scent the tendrils of the attackers’ mind-control. It smelled like the faintest hint of brimstone overlaying the natural scent of the victims. And the more he sniffed, the more he could see visually, almost as though the one sense piggybacked on the other. He shuddered, watching their auras waft around them like smog.